It follows from the above that every transaction effects both sides of this equation. From this arose the double entry system to show this twofold effect. Once to show the effect on one of the items and a second entry to show the effect on the other item. The Venetian merchants were the first known business people to use double entry and they just happened to select the left hand side of the page to represent the debit asset side and the right hand side to represent the credit capital and liabilities; and so it has remained ever since.